Akino is a trainee concierge at the Hokkyoku Department Store, an unusual department store that caters exclusively to animals. Under the watchful eyes of the floor manager and senior concierges, Akino runs around to fulfill the wishes of customers with a myriad of needs and problems in her pursuit to become a full-fledged concierge.
The Concierge comes from director Yoshimi Itazu, and while he was in Melbourne for the film’s premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival, Nick L’Barrow spoke with the director about adapting the popular manga, and how he found a feeling of nostalgia in the film’s score. Please note, this interview was conducted with a translator present, so some answers were edited for clarity.
Nick: I’m really excited to talk with you today, Itazu-san, because I’ve only recently been diving into the world of anime and manga. It’s all quite new to me, but it’s been an incredible ride so far. And I think The Concierge is such a beautiful and happy film!
Yoshimi Itazu: Thank you very much!
Nick: I’d love to start with asking about your process in adapting the still images of the manga into the living, breathing, animated world we see in this movie?
Yoshimi Itazu: In the original manga, the drawings are quite simple. So, using those features, I tried to create some focus on them [for] the feature film. So, I would actually take each character and look at what theatrical [elements] I could create for each character and try and enable each character to be able to move and express themselves quite freely.
Nick: What was the process of giving each animal their own unique personality? Because I think those unique characters are a reason this movie feels so alive on screen.
Yoshimi Itazu: Most of the characters are based on the original manga. But having said that, I looked carefully at how each animal actually behaves. And trying to, how should I say, incorporate those movements of each animal so that it actually relates to their characteristics.
For example, the animals [in The Concierge] walk on two legs. But if you look at each of the skeletal structure of each animal, even just the way their walking would be different depending on the animal.
Nick: How many animals did you and your team end up animating for the entire film?
Yoshimi Itazu: We did have a character design sheet, and we created about 50. Having said that, on any certain frame, there might be characters who keep popping in and out, so if I counted all those, I’m not really quite sure how many we would have in total!
I believe having all these various characters is a very important component of the film. So, that was something I really made sure that what we created was incredible.
Nick: Another aspect of the film that brings the animation to life is the voice cast. How did you match the voice cast to those characteristics you were creating through the animation?
Yoshimi Itazu: We used auditions to find the voice for each character. The level of voice artists in Japan is very high, so I didn’t really have much of a problem find the appropriate voices.
Nick: The score of this film is so whimsical and magical – it feels like a character itself! Can you talk to me about your collaboration with Tofubeats, and what you felt about their music that fit so well into the world of The Concierge?
Yoshimi Itazu: You’re right! Tofubeats does have a personality of its own. It feels original, like a character. But also, I actually like them a lot! That’s why I asked them to do the music.
The reason why I like Tofubeats’ music is although they use cutting technology to create their music, there’s a certain kind of nostalgia, or an older feeling in their music. And I thought that would really suit it, and that’s the aspect that I liked.
Nick: I’d love to talk about the film’s main character, Akino. She’s a character who despite working so hard, and giving everything she has to a task, sometimes she still feels like she is failing. I’m curious to know if that’s ever been a relatable feeling to you as a filmmaker?
Yoshimi Itazu: I really wanted to make sure that she was a relatable person, and you did comment [on] that feeling of really trying hard, you doubt yourself. While I did want to emphasise that, I didn’t want to over-emphasise it so that it started to become yucky, or like a lecture, or something like that.
In a very sort of, how do you say, general way, I wanted Akino to be like the evolution or change in humanity. I really wanted to maximum amount of people to be able to relate to her.
Nick: One of my favourite shots in the film is the final shot, where you pull back from the mall and show the large world around this place. I’m curious to know if you would ever be interested in tell the stories that take place within the larger world of The Concierge?
Yoshimi Itazu: To me, the department store is like Noah’s Ark. There’s no indication that in terms of the dialogue, but it’s this sort of isolated world on its own. And there is some sort of world somewhere outside the Ark.
But it’s hard to say. In terms of this movie, it depends on what we do next. I just want people to be thinking about that [world].
Nick: I’ll close out on this, Itazu-san – you’ve had an incredible career as an animator on amazing projects. What are some key learnings or takeaways from those projects that has helped you as a director?
Yoshimi Itazu: I think you know that not everything goes always well in any situation! So, making improvements on those factors are very important to me.
Another thing that comes to mind is that when I was working as an animator is that you work with these directors, and you see what sort of techniques or what sort of things they do to enable their movie to be wonderful. I think it feels like handing the baton over to the next generation.
Thank you so much to Yoshimi Itazu for his time, and to Crunchy Roll and The Connect Agency for organising the interview. The Concierge played at this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival, and will release in select territories in September.
